It was Los Bravos Day, and the Braves were losers, baby. Sean Newcomb lasted only 3 innings, allowing 5 of the runs, and despite some occasional signs of life from the offense, that was ultimately all the Nationals needed. Bryce Harper hit a 2 run home run as part of a 3 run 1st inning, and Anthony Rendon added a 2 run homer in the 3rd. Newcomb ended with 6 hits allowed, a couple of walks, and 3 strikeouts.

The Braves cut it to 5 – 2 in the bottom of the 4th on a Tyler Flowers 2 run homer, but things remained dire otherwise until the 8th, when folk hero Charlie Culberson cut it to 5 – 4 with (all together now) a 2 run homer. However, Brad Brach allowed a final run in the top of the 9th, and the Braves could not get the tying run to the plate in the bottom.

95 comments on “Nationals 6, Braves 4”

in terms of a postseason roster, are we looking at a 9 man bullpen? how are rosters generally constructed? in terms of position players, obviously 2 catchers, then I’m assuming Duda, Culberson, Lane Adams. but a 4 man bench is awfully thin. thoughts?

I’m confused also on the playoff roster. It looks like Sobotka has played his way on. I think Touissant had a chance but blew it in relief recently. Sam Freeman was borderline, but I think he’s done enough to get a spot. Any news on Moylan?

I don’t think that is how the Braves will roll. I think Newk and Julio are locks. That would be “old school” and I just don’t think the Braves will get away from the old school. I wonder if Newk could be a long man, though. Maybe him over Fried from my last post.

The biggest difference between starters and relievers is that a reliever’s 1st inning always has to be his best. Many starters have rough 1st innings and then find a groove. That’s true of some of the best pitchers in the game and why you hear “if so and so is on the mound, you have to get him early”.

Assuming the Braves will require one lefty starter, who would it be? Has to be Fried or Newk at this point; they’re the only ones on the roster.

Newcomb will be on the post season roster. I don’t think he’s in the starting four, but he’ll be on the roster. They’ll carry him forward simply because he’s part of the team that got them there. They’re not going to give his spot to a September call up.

Lucas Duda will be on the roster as a LH pinch hitter I suspect. The last bench spot is a coin flip between Lane Adams, whom they’ve shown no faith in all year, and Adam Duvall, who has been a complete dud since coming over at the deadline.

There’s a nice little piece on Culberson at Fangraphs. Something I hadn’t quite realized: “In 71 plate appearances with runners in scoring position, he’s slashed a healthy .375/.437/.641. With two outs and runners in scoring position, those numbers — in a small sample size of 32 chances — are a stupendous .464/.559/.786.”

It’s when you’re using more than 2 pinch-hitters in a game that it gets dicey. You have two quality PH in Duda and Culberson, so the best use of the 4th spot is Adams. If you have to use a PH before the 6th inning, it’s very possible your starting pitcher got bombed, and if that’s the case, then you probably don’t have a great shot at winning the game anyway. And if you’re not trying to get Duvall or Ruiz or whomever roster expansion guy a PH, then just put Gausman up there to PH if you’re using a long reliever. I’d probably trust Gausman over Duvall anyway, to be honest.

Hindsight is 20/20, but it’d be nice to have someone a little faster than even Adams on the roster, but they obviously banked on Duvall being a legit asset off the bench and vs. LHP where Inciarte or Culberson could be a PR in a playoff series.

Actually, we’re all forgetting about Sam Freeman. So if they go with another pitcher, he’d going to be on the roster. If they don’t, then I think it’s Rivera > Freeman > Sobotka > Tucker in the fight for that last spot.

I think they haven’t used Rivera much because they don’t feel the need to get Flowzuki in as a PH. They’re still trying to give Duvall looks, and they’re also trying to get Flaherty, Tucker, and Ruiz some ABs. In the playoffs, they’ll have less options.

16 — The beat writers all have said that Preston Tucker is ineligible for the postseason roster since he was acquired after 9/1. The only way he can join is to get a special waiver and approval from MLB.

I did not consider the following locks in my post above, but I would think Julio is the favorite to be the Game 4 starter and that Newcomb would be carried as a long reliever and extra left handed reliever. I also think that Duda will be on the bench as the primary LH pinch hitter.

Coin flip for the last guy on the bench between Lane Adams, Duvall, and Flaherty (would be an extra infielder).

Speaking of playoffs, the BJ Fantasy league playoffs started today. It should be noted that our esteemed editor and the league commissioner both failed to crack the top four, but somehow a fantasy virgin who had a horrible draft (because he knew not what he was doing) managed to roster-churn his way into a 3rd seed. Not sure how that happened, but I’ll take it.

I was not good at all at drafting. My team in the first half was putrid. When I stopped caring and stopped doing anything, my team did better. Are there second half splits? But I wouldn’t say I lost; I quit because it’s stupid.

I don’t get it either, Roger. Such a significant staff-wide issue. If you look at BB%, which accounts for innings pitched or fewer team games better, Atlanta is dead last this month. Fortunately, St. Louis is 2nd to last.

If not for the West Coast trip, we might set a new record for walks surrendered in a month. This is crazy. Didn’t someone here say, or was it Byrd or Medlen, walks are a rally-starter in the playoffs. Oh my.
Let’s sign Keuchel for 2019.

If you let Teheran eat innings the first few months and stick with the plan to provide an extra day of rest whenever possible, you're less likely to end up in a position where you may need to limit the younger arms down the stretch